Family

• Human relationships are at the heart of human existence.
• Marriage includes ritual and symbolism, which often reflect the purposes of marriage.
• Many human beings are born into a family and the family is the basic building block of society.
• All religions have attitudes towards and beliefs about the importance and nature of human relationships.
• Christianity, Islam and Judaism all regard marriage as the basis for family life and many humanists would agree with this view.
• In twenty-first-century Britain, there have been significant changes in attitudes to same-sex relationships.
• Diversity within religion and society is important to understand the range of teachings and attitudes about human relationships in and between religions.
• Some religious believers think that the teachings contained in sacred texts need to adapt or change because of changing views in society.
• Others do not believe in changing any teachings and hold them to be absolutely true.
• The diversity of attitudes and beliefs towards issues relating to relationships is explained by the diversity within religious traditions and in twenty-first-century Britain, which is an increasingly secular country with a steady decline in the number of people claiming to belong to any religion or belief.
• Many people who claim no religious affiliation may describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or humanist and may not accept traditional religious viewpoints.
• There is an increasing pluralism of religious belief and practice in British society and different religions will have different perspectives and viewpoints on human relationships.
• The increasing pluralism and secularisation in Britain has implications for changing attitudes towards issues concerning relationships.
• Monotheistic religions are religions that believe there is only one God.
• Secular is a society where religious beliefs and practices are increasingly less important to a growing number of people.
• Pluralism is the existence of different groups and beliefs within society.
• Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, in the quote on the right, says the family is a microcosm of the universe.
• By calling the family a microcosm of the universe, Rabbi Schneerson means it is a representation of the universe in miniature.
• In a family, the members have different roles and responsibilities, which could include caring for children, maintaining the family home, earning money to support the family, and providing love, comfort, protection and support for each other and for any children.
• In 2014, the Office for National Statistics reported that 28% of families with dependent children were single parent families, an increase from 22% in 2003.
• Single parent family is where one parent raises one or more children alone, with the number of single parent families increasing due to an increasing rate of divorce.
• Extended family structure consists of a number of adults and children who are related living in the same home, often including many relatives living together in close proximity such as cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents all living together and sharing in family roles.
• In the past, the man was responsible for providing for the family through work and the mother was responsible for domestic life.
• These traditional views are changing, however, and women and men are now often regarded as much more of a partnership in family life with shared responsibilities.
• Both women and men aim to provide love, comfort, protection and support for each other and for any children.
• Traditional views of the role of women and men in family life held by religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism, saw the man as the leader of the family and the woman as responsible for domestic life.
• The most common type of family in modern Britain is the nuclear family, consisting of two parents and one or more children all living in the same house.
• Both women and men are important role models for children.
• Childless family is where a married or co-habiting couple are either unable to have children naturally or decide not to have children, often seen in same-sex couples.
• Reconstituted family is created when divorced adults choose to remarry or live in a cohabiting relationship, resulting in a mix of step-parents and step-children.
• It is now much more common for women to go on working when they get married and have a family, and increasing numbers of men are taking on the role of ‘house-husband’ while their wives or partners go out to work.
• The traditional teaching of Christianity, Islam and Judaism has been that marriage is the basis of family life.
• Family life is where religion is experienced by young children and young adults through the example of their parents.
• A wedding ceremony is an important rite of passage in many religious traditions, it is a celebration that recognises the importance of marriage.
• These basic values, or attitudes to living, are shared by Christians, Muslims and Jews: respect your parents, no killing or murder, no adultery, no stealing, no lies and no envy or greed.
• In the Christian tradition, the quotation from Pope Francis reinforces two ideas: the family is the basis of human society and the role of the mother in passing on religious faith is fundamental.
• In the Gospels, Jesus teaches about the importance of marriage, referring back to the idea in Genesis that, as part of God's creation, God made man and woman.
• Marriage is regarded as God given, the best basis for creating an environment into which children should be born, and a lifelong commitment.
• Parents can decide who takes leave to care for the baby, rather than it automatically being the mother.
• In terms of religious practice, parents are expected to take their children to a place of worship, teach them how to read and understand sacred texts, teach them how and when to pray, join in the celebration of festivals, and understand the importance of rites of passage.